I’m so excited about our beach vacations this summer and I am also excited about this little pastel dress I got from the cutest boutique I have discovered called Birdie + James, in Fort Worth. I seriously want EVERYTHING they post on their instagram feed. I went in the other day and picked out this dress for our vacation and some denim shorts. I really liked this dress because it is soooo light. We live in Texas and all of a sudden, like last week, we are already in the 100’s :(!!!! I do not remember it being this hot this early last year. I feel like I say this every year, but it’s hit us hard this year and it just wipes up out! Sooo not used to it yet, but at least this dress is super cool. How are ya’ll handling the heat?

I get asked all the time… “How often should I come in to maintain this blonde?” Unfortunately, or fortunately (for others), there isn’t just one answer to this. It all depends on what kind of blonde you are. Below are pictures of some of my blonde clients. I will tell you what we do and how often they come in.

All of these clients above have about 6 weeks in-between each color appointment. We do a pretty heavy foil, about 1/4 of an inch apart if not closer. Some clients require closer foils if their base color (natural color) is darker. I typically tell my clients who want to be this “Ice Queen Blonde” that they need to come in every 6-8 weeks. We do a full for their first appointment, then a partial, another partial, then finally followed by another full. This pretty much averages to about 2 full highlights a year.

We offer “pony tail highlights” during a partial if this is something a client likes to see. A “pony tail highlight” is basically a few foils around the neck and sides for when you pull your hair up into a ponytail. You know so you can look like you have blonde all around without paying for the full each time. Also, because we don’t do fulls every time, this allows your hair underneath to get a good break!

2. NATURAL BLONDE

These clients still come in around 6-8 weeks. They can get away with 3-4 partials before we do a full if they come in on a regular basis. The only reason we still come in as often is to obviously keep up with the roots 😉 unless they are going for a “melt” but that is a whole other story. So I typically spread these foils out about 1/2 an inch or more. Also, as you can see we tag team our full highlights (which is the whole head) so our clients don’t have to sit in our chair while we work on them for an hour and a half. Instead we can knock a full out in about 45 minutes! This is amazing and something new that we offer to our clients. I am the queen of not wanting to sit still so trust me, I get it!

SIDE NOTE: you can still have a cooler toned blonde and look natural as well as a golden tone!

3. BALAYAGED BLONDES

I know what you are thinking… she is NOT blonde! But… when I have a brunette client who has never colored her hair before come in and we balayage some blonde in there, guess what?! “OMG I’m blonde!!! I love it!” HA and it is so much fun and so satisfying for me to see their eyes light up when they see something new. Bringing lighter pieces around certain features can totally change the way someone looks and feels about themselves. I know it sounds crazy, but just try it and trust me! (not at home of course ;). ) Both of these pictures are totally different but I wanted to include both since my balayaged clients want to know how often they need to come in too!

For someone like the lighter picture: this client may come in every 8 weeks or even every 12 weeks. It really just depends on what they are going for. If you want to maintain the “rootage” come in sooner, but if you are sticking closer to the seasons then go with 12 weeks. (lighten for summer and spring). You could only lighten around your face during the fall and winter, then bring it up everywhere else during the warmer months if you are into following the seasons.

Who else loves beach waves? I mean tried everything to achieve them? I have been trying for years. I think I have somewhat nailed it, somewhat. I still wish I had naturally cute beach waves. But that’s just not realistic for me. So I have put together a live video for you on how I achieved my beach waves.

I normally would try and braid like 6 braids, wake up, and have super frizzy hair! Have you been there? Well I was playing around and twisted the top and I loved the look I got. So I tried four!

I also found these super cute pants at Marshall’s, although I was sad I couldn’t find these exact pants to link, I did find these. These pants were really fun, they’d be great for a plane ride to a beach! Can you tell I’m ready for our summer vacations? Anyways, I may be wearing my hair like this A LOT, it is so easy and heat FREE! I just want long mermaid hair right now. Shop this look | similar pants – here | white tank – here | shoes – similar here |

We are going to the beach this summer! I couldn’t be more thrilled. I can’t wait to see Aniston’s eyes light up when she sees the water. Every time she sees even a puddle of water here she says, “fish?” and I love it!

I basically have (scratch that WANT) to buy swim every year. It’s just something you always want to change. Either your body has changed or your taste, am I right? I also usually get shoes, a couple dresses, and this year I am going to skip out on a cover-up. I got a lot of those for my bachelorette party (4 years ago) and sometimes I just throw a little dress over.

I have been adding and removing things from my cart ever since we booked our trip. I’ve only pulled the trigger on a few things but these are still lingering.

I had a lot of fun creating this board! I think since we are about to tighten our budget after these trips I will continue to make these for ya’ll. It’s like window shopping, but hopefully someone gets to enjoy them 😉 .

Are ya’ll taking any beach trips this summer? If so which beaches are you going to?

I am so excited and honored to announce a giveaway with my friend, Katey McFarlan Hellman! I’m sure most of you know, I have done her blonde hair for quite some time now. If you do not know her, you should! I promise you will fall in love with her blog, Chronicles Of Frivolity. She has the best style and GREAT tips for mommies, wives, and is the most organized girl I know. She also has the sweetest and most genuine heart.

The other day we got to play and shoot this fun braid for a tutorial. I think this look would be cute for a bridesmaid, dinner date, wedding guest, a day out with your girls, or even family pictures. It is so versatile! You could go from romantic to fun and sassy with this braid. Below I have posted the steps for this braid and after the tutorial I have provided a way to enter the giveaway for these 2 piece hair extentions by Amber Fillerup!

STEP 1 First we put some clip in extensions in to create body and length, which allows a super pulled apart, messy, romantic braid. We used these extensions.

STEP 2 Tease EVERYTHING 😉

STEP 3 Snack time.

STEP 4 Take a small section from one side and begin to twist, adding hair as you go, sweeping the hair over to one side. Once you have it where you want the braid to start you can then secure with criss crossing bobby pins to start the foundation for the braid.

STEP 5 Separate into two big pieces, letting some of the shorter hairs at the top fall loose.

STEP 6 Grab a tiny piece from one of the two pieces and cross it over the top to merge with the other side.

STEP 7 Grab another tiny piece from the side you just merged with, cross it over the top, then merge with the other side, continue this until about 2-3 inches away from the bottom of the length.

TIP: Grabbing smaller pieces makes for a more intricate braid and when you grab the small pieces to cross over grab from the outside of each section.

STEP 8 Grab the end of the braid with one hand while you loosen the braid with the other. Do this by pulling some of the hair loose in the braid. This creates a, sometimes, messier (depending on how much you pull) and thicker braid.

STEP 9 Secure with a clear pony and then wrap a tiny little hair around it and tuck it in.

STEP 10 Pull down pieces around your face and loosen anything else that you want messier and bigger.

STEP 11 We curled the top pieces with this GHD 1 inch barrel leaving the last 2 inches out. If you have hair like Katey (will hold anything, even the Shirly-ist curls all week long) pull the curl down after you curl it to relax it a little. If you have hair like me (that could fall soon) recoil the curl and hold it in your hand until it will cool off so your curls will last!

STEP 12 Spray with this hair spray and you are good to go all day and all night!

I hope ya’ll liked this braid as much as we did and are able to achieve this look! Send me pics of your braids or tag me on Instagram, I would love to see!

Below you have a chance to win Barefoot Blonde 2 piece extensions so don’t forget to enter! Winner will be announced Friday.